Mercury Testing of Sport/Food Fishes from Nearshore Ocean Waters of Humboldt County, California Final Report June 2021 Ross Taylor, Ross Taylor & Associates, McKinleyville, CA Jennifer Kalt, Humboldt Baykeeper, Arcata, CA Prepared for Humboldt Baykeeper 600 F Street, Suite 3 #810 Arcata, CA 95521 Funded by California Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Justice Small Grant - State of California with additional support from Cereus Fund of the Trees Foundation Humboldt Area Saltwater Anglers Disclaimer: The statements and conclusions of this report are those of the Grantee and not necessarily those of the California Environmental Protection Agency, its employees, or the State of California. The State makes no warranty, express or implied, and assumes no liability for the information contained in the succeeding text. Acknowledgements Humboldt Baykeeper would like to thank all who were essential to the success of the Humboldt Bay Mercury Assessment: Ross Taylor of Ross Taylor and Associates: Consulting fisheries biologist and avid fisherman, Ross contributed to all aspects of the project, including study design, processing samples, data analysis, report writing, and outreach to sport anglers; Jeffery Stackhouse, Captain, Stackhouse Guide Service and Livestock and Natural Resources Advisor, University of California Cooperative Extension; Lenya Quinn-Davidson, Area Fire Advisor, University of California Cooperative Extension; Jasmin Segura, Humboldt Baykeeper: Spanish translation and interpretation; Mike Buettner: Graphic design. Mercury and Selenium Testing of Sport/Food Fishes from Nearshore Ocean Waters of Humboldt County, California Project Purpose and Need Mercury advisories have been issued for many major waterbodies in California, including coastal areas of Northern California. In 2012, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board determined that Humboldt Bay did not warrant listing for mercury impairment under Clean Water Act Section 303(d) based on mussel testing done in the 1980s (NCRWQCB 2012). However, that same year, a report prepared for the Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP) was released showing that Leopard Shark from Humboldt Bay had the highest mercury levels in a statewide assessment of contaminants in coastal fish (Davis et al. 2012), indicating a need for further sampling of commonly eaten fish caught in Humboldt Bay. In 2018, Humboldt Baykeeper completed the first study of mercury levels of sport/food fishes from Humboldt Bay (Kalt and Taylor 2019). This study collected tissue samples from seven species of fish and several species of shellfish commonly caught, harvested or grown in the bay. The fish species were: California Halibut, Lingcod, Black Rockfish, Bat Ray, Leopard Shark, Jacksmelt and Walleyed Surfperch. An eighth fish species included in the results was ocean- caught Chinook Salmon from a 2005 testing effort. The shellfish tested for mercury included Horseneck, Littleneck, and Martha Washington clams from South Humboldt Bay, and non- native oysters cultured in North Humboldt Bay. The local response to Humboldt Baykeeper’s 2018 study was large and positive, with results disseminated in report form, radio interviews and on a one-page handout that was printed in three languages: English, Spanish and Hmong. Soon after, numerous saltwater anglers who fish off the coast of Humboldt Bay and Trinidad were inquiring about the mercury levels in commonly caught fish from our nearshore waters, such as Cape Mendocino, Patrick’s Point and Reading Rock. The second California EPA grant awarded to Humboldt Baykeeper was for testing methylmercury levels in tissue samples collected from approximately 70 to 80 fish caught in nearshore ocean waters out of Eureka and Trinidad and also for testing a subset of these tissue samples for selenium levels. Selenium was tested because of published research suggesting that selenium in certain molar ratios may offset or buffer the harmful health effects of methylmercury from the consumption of fish. Humboldt Baykeeper - Mercury and Selenium Testing of Ocean Sport Fishes – 2021 Page 1 Background Fish consumption is the major route of methylmercury exposure in the United States (ATSDR 1999). For many years, mercury advisories focused primarily on which fish to avoid. A result of this approach was that many people simply eliminated fish from their diets, especially pregnant women. There are many health benefits of eating fish that is low in mercury, PCBs, and other contaminants. Fish is high in protein and low in fat, and is an important source of omega-3 fatty acids, which support heart health and brain functions (Silbernagel et al. 2011). In recent years, concerns have been raised about generic fish advisories causing harm by encouraging people to limit their fish consumption, thereby limiting the beneficial effects of eating low-mercury fish (Verbrugge 2007). Methylmercury (MeHg) is a powerful neurotoxin that can cause loss of coordination, blurred vision or blindness, and hearing and speech impairment. At lower levels of exposure, more subtle symptoms in adults are numbness or tingling in the hands, feet, and/or around the mouth. Groth (2008) documented 24 cases of methylmercury poisoning in the USA; 21 cases resulted from eating commercially caught and purchased ocean fish and three cases were people who ate freshwater fish they had caught. Each case was diagnosed by a doctor as methylmercury poisoning, based on symptoms and elevated levels of mercury detected in patients’ blood and hair samples (Groth 2008). Developing fetuses are particularly sensitive, and can experience slight decreases in learning abilities, language skills, attention and/or memory function (Silbernagel et al. 2011). Methylmercury accumulates in the body, and magnifies in larger, older animals that eat higher on the food chain (Davis et al. 2012). However, reducing mercury exposure from fish consumption can lower the mercury levels in blood and hair samples within a few months (Groth 2008; Bose-O’Reilly et al. 2010). This is especially important information for women of child-bearing age, because they can reduce their babies’ mercury exposure by eliminating fish with high mercury levels from their diets. The most vulnerable populations are people who eat a lot of fish, including recreational and subsistence fishermen and their families. Some populations that consume large amounts of fish include: tribal members, Hmong and other Asian residents, Latino residents, and people with low incomes that fish to feed their families. Another group at risk includes people with high incomes who can afford to eat a lot of expensive fish such as tuna, swordfish, and sushi. There are increased concerns for people who may consume many meals from one large animal, such as recreational and subsistence users who freeze, smoke, or pressure cook/can fish they’ve Humboldt Baykeeper - Mercury and Selenium Testing of Ocean Sport Fishes – 2021 Page 2 caught to eat year-round. Also, people who eat fish they catch also tend to consume larger portions than amounts used in health advisories (Harris et al. 2009). Mercury is a natural element found in some rock and soil. Human activities, such as burning coal and the use of mercury to mine gold, have added available mercury to the environment (Smith et al., 2016). At this time, there are no known local sources of mercury in the Humboldt Bay area. Mercury was used in historic gold mining in the Klamath, Trinity, and Russian Rivers, but is not known to have occurred near Humboldt Bay or in the adjacent Eel and Mad River watersheds. Most of the mercury in the Humboldt Bay and Northcoast region is thought to originate from coal-burning power plants in Asia and elsewhere, which is emitted into the atmosphere and deposited across western North America. Asian countries, primarily China and India, generate approximately 60% of the coal-fired mercury emissions in the world (CarbonBrief.org 2021). A recent study found that coastal fog deposits mercury at higher levels than rainwater in Central California (Weiss-Penzias et al. 2012). Globally, around 80% of the inorganic mercury (Hg) that is emitted to the atmosphere from natural and human sources is deposited in the oceans, where some is converted by microorganisms to the neurotoxin MeHg (Schartup et al. 2019). Some studies have found that methylation of elemental Hg to MeHg can be accelerated within sediments in estuaries (Brown et al. 2015), while others have found that methylation occurs primarily within the water column in both estuaries (Prentiss et al. 2015) and upstream freshwater tributaries (Tsui et al. 2010). In higher-trophic predatory fish, environmental MeHg concentrations are amplified by a million times or more (Schartup et al. 2019). Studies dating back to the 1970s suggest that selenium intake can protect against mercury exposure due in part to its binding affinity for both mercury and methylmercury (Cusack et al., 2017). This binding affinity leads to the formation of a biologically-unavailable mercury-selenide precipitate (Zhang et al., 2014). Ralston (2008) and others (Peterson et al. 2009) have suggested that selenium:mercury molar ratios greater than 1.0 may reduce the harmful effects of mercury exposure from fish consumption. Selenium deficiency is a documented problem for cattle raised in Northern California due to low levels in soils and forage plants (Davy et al., 2019). Because low selenium levels in one’s diet may exacerbate the impacts of mercury exposure, documenting selenium concentrations